Blatter aide linked to bribery payments

United States’ prosecutors believe FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s top lieutenant made $10 million in bank transactions that are central to the bribery investigation of the world soccer body, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Jerome Valcke, FIFA’s secretary general, is described in an indictment filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, as an unidentified “high-ranking FIFA official” who in 2008 transferred the sum to another FIFA official, Jack Warner.

Valcke is not named as a defendant and has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

He was not immediately available for comment, Reuters says.

A spokeswoman for FIFA said the $10 million in bank transactions were authorized by the then-FIFA Finance Committee chairman. The Finance Committee chairman was Julio Grondona, who died last year.

Valcke and Blatter are the top two officials within FIFA.

Valcke’s connection to the case was first reported by The New York Times.